Guess who’s back! That’s right, it’s me! Going off-radar on this blog felt like years and I’ve slacked off on some very important stuff. Anyway, just to clear up some things during my very off-schedule hiatus since last year, I’m writing this post!
Last year was a roller coaster of emotions that picking a book and working on my blog posts were the last things on my mind. Save for some blog tour posts, I’ve neglected my TBR pile, some ARC review requests, and even fun posts and blog challenges.
But to be fair, some major changes in life have been taking shape and I’m about to share some of those!
So Juri, what have you been up to these days?
1. I graduated from university!
If you have been following my Twitter and Instagram, I’ve made the news over there, and my About Us page is basically my creative photo posing with my favourite manga series, Fruits Basket and Ouran High School Host Club. I survived university’s challenges and yep!
2. I took language classes!
After graduation came the “What-if” bleak moments. At that point, I’ve been debating whether to find work or nah, but decided to go on a small break. During the next months, I’ve been taking Japanese language classes at a nearby university offering them! My sensei was so sweet and kind and I have gained new friends in the process! I also made new Japanese friends so I got to practice my skills lately.
3. I got sucked into the world of mobile games.
NOW THIS! This is the reason why….I deviated from bookish-related things for a bit. So, there is this Japanese mobile game called A3!! which stands for “Act, Addict, Actors!” EMPHASIS ON THE ADDICT BECAUSE THIS GIRL RIGHT HERE. GOT DRAGGED INTO THE ABYSS. AND GOT ADDICTED. LITERALLY.
Anyway! This is basically a stat-raising game about actors! I went into it because of the art, but ultimately stayed for the story. I never knew playing and reading about theater kids would make me so attached to this, but HELLO! IT HAPPENED! I was in deep in the fandom for the rest of the year, making fandom content, running a blog…and if you’ve been on my other fandom Twitter account, you do know I’ve been yelling about this man for months now.
Is this a silent prompt for you to check out A3! ? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? But I’m still playing this game casually and it’s very enjoyable!
4. I worked a side-job as an English tutor!
Around December of last year, I had a really great time teaching English to Japanese high school students! it also made me re-evaluate my career direction to working with ESL and language especially in producing materials and literature for Young Adults and Children. It was fun, and I also got to practice my Japanese while helping my students learn English!
5. Lastly, I am working a full-fledged job!
Another thing I wasn’t able to pick up reading and bookish shenanigans was because of job-hunting and conquering job interviews! It was pretty bleak especially with me having to deal with rejections, but all is well! I am working with an awesome company that deals with ESL! I’m working as a content writer, and while it’s a challenging job, I’m having immense fun together with my awesome co-workers!
And that’s it for reality updates!
It’s been a whirlwind but I’m slowly working to get back on track to serve you bookish content! Now, it’s my turn to ask! How have you been? How are you holding up against the COVID-19 pandemic? I hope you all are doing well and are safe. Please wash your hands regularly and boost your immune system!
Until the next post!
Tomes and Thoughts 
2 replies on “Breaking the Hiatus”
Welcome back! Congrats on graduating 🥳! Your creative photo is great 😂. Post-grad limbo is scary, but that’s so awesome that you took a break to do things you love! Japanese is such a cool language, and I love that you had a sensei and made friends haha. I wanted be an ESL teacher at some point 😅, so I’m glad to hear that you had a postive experience! Congrats on your full-time job too 🎊😄!
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Thank you, Belle! We were given the liberty to compose our own creative shots so of course, I took the chance haha. The prospect of the future outside of academia was definitely really scary because it was just plain uncertainty looming ahead. Japanese is definitely an interesting language to learn but you have to take a lot of effort (which I believe is true for every language, too) ksks. Also ESL is a rewarding job but very tiring plus you need loads of PATIENCE haha. Thank you for reading this far, Belle~
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